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Posts: 14
Location: Southern Ontario | Hi Guys. I've been mulling over buying a new unit with side imaging. I currently have two lowrance elite 7 HDI units that have downscan, traditional etc. But I'm wondering how many of the musky fisherman on here find side imaging a valuable tool. Do you find yourself using it often. Is it worth the cost?
Mike
Edited by Rebel 9/29/2015 5:17 AM
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Posts: 270
Location: SE WISCONSIN | I always use it looking for weed beds,bait balls,rock I find it to be a valuable tool in my boat. |
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Posts: 271
Location: davis,IL | Works great for finding unseen or unknown structure you would have driven past if you did not have side imaging. |
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Posts: 134
| if you can afford it.... get it. Takes the down imaging reference to +/- 80/100ft out the side of your rig, depending how deep the structure is you are working. I love it, especially in trolling/exploration scenarios.
Good luck |
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Posts: 298
| It really depends on how willing you are to not fish and to focus on using it. I kinda regret spending the extra money to have it for how often I use it. I wish I would have bought 2 1158s instead of a 998 and 1198 when I upgraded a few years ago. You will certainly find neat things with it. I also think it depends on the type of water you are fishing. In mostly featureless lakes it would be a huge benefit to find the fish holding pieces. In a complex weedline with lots of twists and turns? The fish will pretty much tell you where they are. And does it really matter if they are holding on a point/turn/composition change? The spot will get a way point either way.
I do however enjoy having the ducer located on the bow mount TM so that I can get real time information from the front while casting. However with my xi5 I haven't figured out a solid mounting option. You can use it to follow new weedlines/rock bars without mapping them out first. Which can be helpful though taking the time to waypoint them out is probably better in the long run but the SI will help you follow receding weedlines through the season.
For me I just like to be casting when out on the water. I derive no joy from sitting at the helm watching electronics and driving around.
May be worth your while to investigate garmin's panoptix as well. There are some musky applications with being able to spot followers etc at night or in dirty water. Blind figure 8 fish make night fishing exciting but the efficiency of knowing when to figure 8 or not would allow for more water to be covered at night. |
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Posts: 14
Location: Southern Ontario | Thanks for the help guys. Now I have to convince the wife, wish me luck. |
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Posts: 270
Location: SE WISCONSIN | Good luck with that. |
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Posts: 286
Location: Eagan, MN | Hi Mike, lemme give you another opinion since you were seeking them.
Like NickD, I regret having spent the extra money and find I never use the SI capability on my Humminbird ONIX10. Why?? Because I'm a caster and also bought a Humminbird 360 bow sonar that went on my trolling motor. The HB 360 bow sonar offers 360 visibility around the boat. Now THAT sonar I use constantly. What's more, having grown accustom to the full field of vision, I wouldn't want to ever fish without. The 360 capability allows us casters to see weedlines, blow down trees laying on bottom, rock piles, drop offs, and fish in the field of vision in front of the boat, as well as off to the sides and behind. You just get way more information IMO. Perhaps of greater benefit, I no longer 'crash' my boat, or unintentionally drift, into structure or objects to which I had intended to cast. The 360 capability also gives you a much better idea as to where to place my next casts since you can see targets in the exact orientation to the boat.
You didn't say whether you were primarily a troller or caster. Either way, having SI is better then having only 2D sonar capability, no doubt. Probably more useful for trollers or guys who scout and then double back to cast at what they've found.
I liken SI to sightseeing in a car, but only being able to look through blinders in a narrow field of vision out the side window (SI) and straight down at the highway going underneath you (2D sonar). The 360 capability lets you see all around and provides more useful real-time information, at least for me and how I fish (all casting). With limited time on the water, it's all about efficiency and I feel more efficient - and excited about fishing - when I can see all around the boat at all times while casting. The Garmin Panoptix may give the same or better capability.
Maybe this doesn't help you, but others could find some benefit to my experience.
BrianF. |
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Posts: 14
Location: Southern Ontario | Hi BrianF
I am a caster. And to tell you the truth I never even though about the 360 as I have lowrance units. The way you put it makes it sound like the perfect tool. I guess I never thought of making the change to hummingbird. My only problem would be is the mounting option. I have only seen them mounted on cable steer trolling motors and mine is a mk terrova. Unless something new has come out.
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Posts: 1023
| If u can afford a 360 then get one.
Most cannot.
I love my SI. I use it to quickly Mark weed edges, soft to hard transitions, wood and sometimes fish (larger fish are tightly packed schools). It does take some scouting but then u have the waypoints marked and it's a precise layout for future trips. I'm not sure it's technically worth $1600+ dollars but I have used, for example, it to find catfish and walleyes and then immediately catch them.
I want a pinpoint xi5 or Terrova I pilot now. Is it worth it to gain spotlock and other features for $2000. In reality no / but in a fisherman's mind - heck ya. |
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Posts: 286
Location: Eagan, MN | Mike, that is the downside to the 360 Bow sonar for a lot of musky guys who cast. Right now, the 360 Bow is set up only for cable drive trolling motors. The deal with the 360 is that it needs to be attached to a fixed trolling motor shaft in order to maintain the proper orientation to objects and structure around the boat. The whole shaft of an electric steer trolling motor turns, which doesn't allow for this orientation. If a guy has a cable steer TM, and compatible Humminbird electronics already, the cost of the 360 isn't bad...$1K. Only when you don't have the necessary TM and electronics, and need to acquire them, is the entry cost difficult to swallow. There are Lowrance and Garmin options for 360 imagery that might work for an electric steer TM, but I'm not as familiar with them. Brian
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Posts: 100
| I have both SI and a 360°...I'm a caster...in new water, I use SI to make runs along shore lines or structure that shows on maps...make key places...then I go back and use the 360° to go back and fish it as Landry suggested above.
If I already know the water and have the spots marked (or memorized) I can skip the SI part...If I know the water really well...I can skip both...
BTW, my 360° is the transom mounted version.
I run an 1198 at the console, and a 798 up front...it's not hard to make the adjustment in my head as to where to cast based on what the screen is showing and where I am on the boat.
...the Terrova with iPilot and Link is the best tool in the boat though. It lets you leave the work of boat control to the electronics and lets you fish.
If every piece of electronics on my boat died at the same time, I'd replace the Terrova first.
Edited by Further North 10/5/2015 11:53 PM
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Posts: 286
Location: Eagan, MN | FN, just wondering what SI can do that 360 can't? If idling down shorelines in which you are unfamiliar, couldn't you use the 360 the same way as the SI?? Maybe has something to do with setting waypoints on more distant objects??
Brian |
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Posts: 470
| Not to steal the OP's thread,
Quick question:
Do you need an Ethernet hub to use the 360 and IPilot link with core units? I have a 999Ci Si and I was thinking of getting the 360.
Thanks,
RandalB |
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Posts: 100
| BrianF. - 10/6/2015 8:53 AM
FN, just wondering what SI can do that 360 can't? If idling down shorelines in which you are unfamiliar, couldn't you use the 360 the same way as the SI?? Maybe has something to do with setting waypoints on more distant objects??
Brian
Brian, the two work differently...the way I think about them is that SI is for using while I'm moving, 360° is for when I'm sitting still...or moving slow on the trolling motor.
I use SI to quickly scan an area while I'm moving along areas I think there might be good structure...I seldom do this at less than 3-4...maybe even up to 6 MPH. I mark the stuff I like and may want to come back to.
The 360° sweeps fairly slowly if you want good detail (it's not 360° all the time, it's like a radar), so what I do is come back to the spots I marked with SI and move in with the 360°...you can see the points you marked in the SI on the 360° screen.
if I tried to use the 360° for a scan while I was moving I'd miss good sized chunks of shoreline or structure.
Does that help? |
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Posts: 100
| Yes, you would need the hub. |
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